Connector arrangement for a communication terminal

ABSTRACT

A radio communication terminal includes a user input and output interface. The terminal includes a terminal core having a main terminal PCB carrying electronic circuits with a data processor for controlling terminal functions and a system connector. A cover connector is connected to the data processor. A releasable cover carries an auxiliary functional member and a terminal connector connected to the auxiliary functional member. The cover connector and terminal connector are configured to provide communicative connection for the auxiliary functional member of the cover to the data processing means of the terminal core. The terminal core includes an additional keyboard PCB supporting a terminal keyboard connected to the electronic circuits, and the cover connector is disposed on the additional PCB.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to radio communication terminalshaving a detachable housing or cover, and to such detachable housings orcovers. In particular, the invention relates to releasable attachableactive covers devised to provide functional modules for a radiocommunication terminal, and to connection pads for such releasableattachment.

BACKGROUND

The first commercially attractive cellular telephones or terminals wereintroduced in the market at the end of the 1980's. Since then, a lot ofeffort has been made in making smaller terminals, with much help fromthe miniaturisation of electronic components and the development of moreefficient batteries. Today, numerous manufacturers offer pocket-sizedterminals with a wide variety of capabilities and services, such aspacket-oriented transmission and multiple radio band coverage.

In order to attract customers the terminal manufacturers have thereforetaken further measures to strengthen their position in the competition,one such being to offer terminals with detachable covers or covers. If auser wishes to change the outer appearance of his communicationterminal, he can simply buy a new cover of the desired kind. The oldcover is preferably released by a simple grip without the aid of tools,where after the new cover can be snapped on. A detachable cover isgenerally a fairly simple element, essentially formed from a singlepiece of plastic or possibly metal. The cover may represent only thefront side of the terminal, i.e. the side of the terminal carrying theuser interface generally comprising a terminal display and keypad, amicrophone and a loudspeaker. In such a design, the cover forms aseparate part of the cover of the terminal, or optionally an auxiliarypart to be attached outside the cover. Alternatively, the cover mayinclude more than one piece, e.g. a front piece and a back piece devisedto substantially enclose the terminal. The detachable covers are oftenprovided in different colours, and also with more advanced patterns suchas logos or images.

The detachable covers of the prior art mainly create an aestheticeffect, changing the visual appearance of the terminal. They do not,however, have any effect on the functions of the terminal. Othersolutions for creating this aesthetic effect, without having to changethe cover, have also been proposed.

EP 1079584 by Laurikka et al discloses a cover for an electronic device,such as a communication terminal, whose colour can be changed by meansof a control signal. That cover is advantageously produced by using amaterial, which changes its colour as a result of the effect of anelectric or electromagnetic control signal. Such a material is forexample electronic ink, with which a conventional cover is coated. Theappearance of cover can hence be controlled by a signal from thecommunication terminal. When a call or a text message arrives in thecommunication terminal, it indicates this to the user by changing thecolour of the cover.

Also EP 564127 by Blonder shows an apparatus cover capable of changingcolour. The cover has a transparent outer layer, covering a layer ofelectrically switchable light modulating material. This invention toosuggests indicating e.g. a telephone ring by changing the cover colour.

The mobile phone is nowadays an essentially mature type of product, andto just be able to make phone calls is no longer enough to attractbuyers. It is therefore necessary to add functions to the phone. At thesame time, the different types of auxiliary functions are constantlychanging and developing, making it difficult and costly to rapidlyrespond to these demands by issuing new terminal models. Today, the setof functions to be included in the final terminal product is definedalready at the start of the development project for a new terminalmodel, and it cannot easily be changed later on. Terminals are developedand subsequently sold in series with different features and at differentprices. Such features include e.g. touch-screen, speakerphone, specialbuttons etc. Normally, the only thing that can be changed for the useris the appearance of the cover, and the software controlling ringsignals and displayed images.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A problem with portable communication terminals of today is that it isexpensive to produce a wide variety of different phones in order toattract a large market. Furthermore, some features or parts of theterminals develop faster than other features, which means that oneoutdated part might decrease the market value for the entire terminal,even if it is otherwise fully competitive. Adding a new feature orfunction in an on-going project results in major re-design work anddelayed product launch. An object of the present invention is thereforeto provide a solution for making portable communication terminals suit awider range of customers, and more easily adaptable to variousfunctions, before and after production start.

According to a first aspect, this object is fulfilled by a radiocommunication terminal comprising a user input and output interface,data processing means for controlling terminal functions, and areleasable cover, wherein said terminal comprises a terminal coreincluding the data processing means and a cover connector connected tothe data processing means, and said cover carries an auxiliaryfunctional member and a terminal connector connected to the auxiliaryfunctional member, and wherein said cover connector and terminalconnector are devised to provide communicative connection for theauxiliary functional member of an attached cover to the data processingmeans of the terminal core.

Preferably, said terminal core and said cover are provided withcooperating attaching means for releasable attachment of the cover.

In one embodiment, said terminal core comprises a main terminal PCBcarrying electronic circuits for the terminal, and an additional PCBconnected to said electronic circuits, wherein said cover connector isdisposed on said additional PCB. Preferably, said additional PCB is akeyboard PCB supporting a terminal keyboard.

One of said cooperating cover connector and terminal connectorpreferably comprises conductive connection pads, whereas the other ofsaid connectors comprises a biased resilient connector element. Saidbiased resilient connector element may be a pogo-pin connector.Alternatively, said biased resilient connector element may be a leafspring connector. Preferably, said conductive connection pads aredevised in the cover connector disposed on the terminal core.

In one embodiment, said cover comprises a shell member devised to covera portion of a front face of the terminal core. In addition to that, oralternatively, said cover comprises a shell member devised to cover aportion of a rear face of the terminal core.

According to a second aspect, the object of the invention is fulfilledby a disconnectable cover for a radio communication terminal of theaforementioned kind, comprising attaching means for releasableattachment of the cover to a terminal core, wherein said cover comprisesa terminal connector devised to provide bus connectivity with saidterminal upon attachment, and an auxiliary functional member connectedto said terminal connector for providing a function to the terminal whenthe cover is attached thereto.

Preferably, said auxiliary functional member is devised to affect or addto the function of an attached terminal core, and comprises a microcontroller.

In one embodiment, the terminal connector comprises a biased resilientconnector element, connectable to conductive connection pads arranged inthe cover connector of the terminal core. Said biased resilientconnector element may be a pogo-pin connector. Alternatively, saidbiased resilient connector element a leaf spring connector.

In one embodiment, said functional member comprises a touch-sensitivedisplay.

In one embodiment, said functional member comprises a speaker for handsfree operation.

In one embodiment, said functional member comprises a digital imagerecorder.

According to a third aspect, the object of the invention is fulfilled bya terminal core for a radio communication terminal of the aforementionedkind, comprising data processing means and attaching means forreleasable attachment of a cover to the terminal core, wherein saidterminal core comprises a cover connector connected to the dataprocessing means, such that attachment of a cover carrying an auxiliaryfunctional member and a terminal connector connected to the auxiliaryfunctional member, provides an auxiliary function to the terminal corethrough the cooperating cover and terminal connectors.

In one embodiment, the terminal core comprises a main terminal PCBcarrying electronic circuits for the terminal, and an additional PCBconnected to said electronic circuits, wherein said cover connector isdisposed on said additional PCB. Preferably, said additional PCB is akeyboard PCB supporting a terminal keyboard. In one embodiment, thecover connector comprises conductive connection pads.

The detailed description shows specific features of various embodimentsrelated to the aspects above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and advantages of the present invention will be moreapparent from the following description of the preferred embodimentswith reference to the accompanying drawings, on which

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a communication terminal core as seenfrom the front, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates the terminal core of FIG. 1 in a sectional side view;

FIG. 3 schematically shows the terminal core of FIG. 2 and two activecovers that are connectable to the terminal core;

FIG. 4 illustrates a terminal comprising the assembled active covers andterminal core of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a terminal core and a keyboard PCBcarrying a cover connector;

FIG. 6 illustrates the assembled terminal core and keyboard PCB;

FIGS. 7A-11 illustrate various embodiments of active covers and thereattachment to a terminal;

FIG. 12 illustrates an embodiment of a disassembled terminal comprisinga terminal core and detachable covers;

FIG. 13 schematically illustrates the assembled terminal of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 schematically illustrates the assembled terminal of FIGS. 12 and13, as seen from a sectional side view; and

FIGS. 15-17 illustrate various embodiments of cooperating coverconnectors and terminal connectors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present description relates to the field of radio communicationterminals. The term radio terminal or communication terminal, alsodenoted terminal in short in this disclosure, includes all mobileequipment devised for radio communication with a radio station, whichradio station also may be mobile terminal or e.g. a stationary basestation. Consequently, the term radio terminal includes mobiletelephones, pagers, communicators, electronic organisers, smartphones,PDA:s (Personal Digital Assistants) and DECT terminals (Digital EnhancedCordless Telephony). Hence, although the structure and characteristicsof the antenna design according to the invention is mainly describedherein, by way of example, in the implementation in a mobile phone, thisis not to be interpreted as excluding the implementation of theinventive antenna design in other types of radio terminals, such asthose listed above. Furthermore, it should be emphasised that the termcomprising or comprises, when used in this description and in theappended claims to indicate included features, elements or steps, is inno way to be interpreted as excluding the presence of other featureselements or steps than those expressly stated.

Exemplary embodiments will now be described with references made to theaccompanying drawings.

According to the invention, a final terminal product is comprised of aterminal core and one or more active terminal covers. The terminal coreincludes the basic features and elements of a radio communicationterminal, and may be operable even without the releasable cover.However, in a preferred embodiment, the core telephone or terminal isstripped from its protective housing, lacking at least a front or rearcover. By active covers is here meant that the covers, besides providinga protective housing and an aesthetic effect, can include electronicsthat together with the terminal or phone provides additional and/ormodified functions. For this purpose, the terminal is provided with acover connector, connectable to a co-operating terminal connector on thereleasable cover. Furthermore, means for attaching and securing thecover or covers to the terminal are also included, devised in aco-operating manner, though not shown in all the drawings. The attachingmeans may be arranged in any suitable shape, several of which are wellknown to the skilled person and used today. The covers may e.g. besnapped on and maintained in place by a spring force, or be screwed on.The specific manner is not crucial for the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates the front face of a terminal core 1, in the form of acellular phone. Terminal core 1 is carried in a chassis 16, directly orindirectly supporting the other components of the terminal. Terminalcore 1 is devised with a user-input interface, in the displayedembodiment comprising a microphone 14 and a keypad 19. The user inputinterface may also or comprise a touch-sensitive display in addition toor instead of the keypad 19. Furthermore, a user output interface of theTerminal core 1 comprises a loudspeaker 15 and a display 18. All ofthese features are well known in the prior art. Though not shown in FIG.1, the terminal core 1 further includes an antenna, radio transmissionand reception electronics, and a power supply preferably in the form ofa battery. Communication terminal 1 is also devised with a computersystem, including a microprocessor with associated memory and software.In order to co-operate and communicate with a releasable active cover,the terminal core 1 is further devised with a cover connector 17.

FIG. 2 illustrates the terminal core 1 in a sectional view from its leftside, as seen in FIG. 1. In this drawing, the different operative partsof the terminal core are schematically shown, including those shown inFIG. 1. The chassis 16 is indicated by the dashed line, and its specificshape is not relevant. A printed circuit board PCB 10 carries theelectronics 11 of the terminal core 1, preferably including dataprocessing means such as a micro processor system, or the like, withassociated memory. An antenna 13 is further included, the particulartype of which is irrelevant to the invention. Typical antenna typesinclude micro strip antennas, Planar Inverted-F Antennas PIFA, and stubantennas. A battery 12 is included to feed the electronics withelectrical energy.

FIG. 3 illustrates the terminal core 1 and two releasable covers, a backcover 20 and a front cover 30. The arrows in FIG. 3 indicate that covers20 and 30 are attachable to the terminal core 1. The illustration of theterminal core 1 in FIG. 3 further includes attaching means 27 in thepurely exemplary shape of recesses formed in the sides of the terminal.Furthermore, the active covers 20, 30 are provided with protrudingmembers 26 and 36, respectively, devised to latch into engagement withthe corresponding recesses 27 in the terminal core 1. It should be notedthat the present invention is not restricted to having both an activecover attached to the rear and the front of terminal core 1. On thecontrary, these two active covers 20, 30 are preferably, but need notbe, independent of each other, separately communicating with theterminal core 1. Therefore, only one of the covers 20, 30 may beattached, the drawing indicating both simply to show this possibilitytoo. The specific character of the active covers 20, 30 is not shown inFIG. 2, but different examples are given below and in the subsequentdrawings. Each cover 20, 30 has a shell part 21, 31, forming part of theexterior cover of the assembled terminal 40 when attached thereto. Theshell part also carries, directly or indirectly, the other members ofthe respective active cover. Each active cover 20, 30 further includes aterminal connector 24, 34. Preferably, the terminal connectors 24, 34and the cooperating cover connector on the terminal core offer a fullsystem bus connectivity. Each active covers 20, 30 also comprises amicro controller 25, 35 communicatively connected to the cover connector24, 34. A functional member 22, 32, adding to or modifying the featuresof the terminal may also be included, connected to and controlled by themicro controller 25, 35. The micro controller 25, 35 preferably has adedicated software stored therein, for the purpose of controlling theinteraction with the terminal. The active cover may have its own powersupply in the form of a small battery or capacitor, but preferably makesuse of the terminal battery 12 through the terminal connector 24, 34. Inone embodiment, yet another releasable cover may be attached onto afirst attached cover, thereby providing a further function to theterminal. For this purpose the covers 20, 30 may also include coverconnectors 23, 33.

FIG. 4 illustrates the assembled terminal 40, comprising terminal core 1and the attached covers 20, 30, but without the separate parts of theterminal core 1 and the active covers 20, 30 indicated. As before, theassembled terminal may also comprise the terminal core 1 and only oneactive cover 20 or 30. Furthermore, there may be more than two activecovers, attached beside or over each other. When the active covers 20,30 are connected to the terminal core 1 they may fully enclose theterminal 1, but they may also occupy only parts of the exterior of theterminal core 1.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a disassembled terminal core 1, andFIG. 6 the same terminal core 1 as assembled. Theses drawings bothillustrate the terminal core main PCB 10, the terminal core electronics11 and the display 18. A system connector 50 is attached to the PCB 10,and the straight arrows indicate the communicative connection betweenthe system connector 50 and the electronics 11. Facing downwards fromthe bottom side of the terminal core 1, i.e. left in the drawings, isthe system connector interface 51, comprising connector poles andsecuring means for attaching auxiliary terminal accessories. The systemconnector interface 51 is accessible from the outside of the terminalcore 1, and comprises a set of poles that for instance are usable forconnecting the terminal to a battery charger without having to dismantlethe battery 12 from the terminal 1. Furthermore, the system connector 50includes poles for data communication with the terminal 1, which e.g.can be used for attaching auxiliary components to the assembledterminal, such as audio or video players or recorders, extra keypads,headsets, and so on.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention,wherein the cover connector 17 is arranged on a keyboard PCB 54. Thekeyboard PCB 54 is communicatively connected to the terminal coreelectronics 11, as is indicated by the angled arrows, and is attached tothe main PCB 10. The communication terminals of today, especiallycellular radio communication terminals or phones, are extremely compactand dense, with almost no room for additional connection pads on themain PCB 10. By disposing the cover connector 17 on an unused area partof the keyboard PCB 54, the outer dimensions of the assembled productcan be kept. This way, the functional covers of the present inventioncan be implemented without rendering larger terminals. It should benoted, though, that in alternative embodiments the cover connector maybe disposed on another additional PCB that is connected to theelectronic circuitry 11 of the terminal core 1. Other examples of suchadditional PCB types include e.g. a display PCB, a microphone PCB, or acompletely separate PCB devised for this purpose.

The specific shape of the cover connector 17 is not disclosed in thedrawings, but the cover connector 17 preferably includes an array ofconnection pads or poles. This array includes data communication polesor pads, for unidirectional or bi-directional communication between, onone hand, the terminal core electronics and micro controller system 11,and on the other hand the releasable cover. Furthermore, the coverconnector 17 preferably includes power poles, such that the addedfunction of the cover can be powered by the terminal core battery 12. Itmay be noted that the both the microphone 14 and the speaker 15 of theterminal core 1 are left out in FIGS. 5 and 6. The purpose of this ismerely to make the drawings as clear as possible. As the skilled personknows, the microphone 14 is a fairly small terminal member, and thecover connector 17 and the microphone 14 can easily be placed e.g.beside each other. The specific design of the speaker is not relevant tothe realisation of the invention.

By the design according to the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6,the cover connector is completely isolated from the system connector.Consequently, signals to the cover connector can be of any kind and ofany number, thereby not occupying and loading the same connections andsignals as the system connector.

FIGS. 7A to 11 illustrate in a schematic manner some differentembodiments of active covers to a terminal core 1. These rather simpledrawings indicate the co-operating cover and terminal core connectors,and the member providing the optional feature, included in the activecover.

FIG. 7A illustrates a side view of a front cover 70 carrying a largetouch-sensitive display 71, which cover 70 is connectable to terminal 1.FIG. 7B illustrates the assembled terminal 72 from the front, clearlyshowing the display 71. A stylus 72 can be used to input data to theterminal 1, 72 through the display 71.

FIG. 8A illustrates a side view of a front cover 80 carrying an enlargedspeaker 81 for hands free functionality, which cover 80 is connectableto terminal 1. FIG. 8B illustrates the assembled terminal 82 from thefront; showing the hands free speaker 81. In the displayed embodimentthe speaker 81 adds to the length of the terminal. Optionally, thespeaker may be arranged to be positioned such that it instead adds tothe height, i.e. thickness of the terminal. A different speakerphonearrangement is illustrated in FIG. 11, described below.

FIG. 9B illustrates a side view of a rear cover 90 carrying a digitalimage recorder 91, which cover 90 is connectable to terminal 1. FIG. 9Aillustrates the assembled terminal 92 from the rear, indicating a lensof the digital image recorder 91. FIG. 9C illustrates the assembledterminal 92 from the front, where only the terminal 1 itself is visiblesince no front active cover has been attached. The digital imagerecorder may be a snapshot camera and/or a video recorder.

FIG. 10A illustrates a side view of a rear cover 100, carrying anauxiliary remote control 101, which cover 100 is connectable to terminal1. FIG. 10B illustrates the assembled terminal 102 from the front,showing the face of terminal 1. The remote control sender, and possiblyreceiver, 101 is also indicated even though it may not be visible fromthe front. Such a remote control 101 may e.g. comprise an infraredtransmitter, or a bluetooth chip.

FIG. 11 illustrates a rather different embodiment of a releasable activecover 110, although it relates to the embodiment of FIGS. 8A and 8B.First of all, this drawing illustrates another way of attaching theterminal 1 to the cover 110, more or less by sliding the terminal 1 intothe cover 110 as indicated by the arrow. The active cover 110 is in thisembodiment devised to provide conference telephone capabilities to aportable terminal 1. The active cover 110 may be devised to rest on adesktop or the like, and has a bottom rest surface for this purpose,facing downwards in the drawing. In alternative embodiments the activecover may of course be devised with the rest surface such that theterminal is maintained in a different position, such as straight up orat a tilted angle. The active cover 110 of FIG. 11 is shaped to receivethe terminal 1 in a horizontal arrangement, as indicated in the drawing,where a side view of the terminal 1 is given. The active cover 110 hasan enlarged speaker 111, or at least a more powerful speaker 111 thanthe ordinary terminal speaker, and the speaker 111 is therefore selectedto be suitable for conveying sound to a wider audience than just oneuser holding the terminal to the ear. Preferably, the terminal 1 isplaced in the active cover 110 with the front of the terminal 1 facingupwards, such that the terminal display and keypad can be convenientlyused. The conference telephone active cover 110 may also be devised withsuitable conference phone controls 112. Such controls include volumecontrol and a secrecy function, such that the terminal is set to alisten only mode. The conference phone controls 112 preferably comprisebuttons, the triggering of which is relayed to the terminal through theco-operating connectors of the cover 110 and the terminal 1.

The embodiments described above in conjunction with the drawingsrepresent examples of how active covers according to the invention maybe devised. However, many other examples are possible, a few of whichare outlined here without reference to any specific drawing.

A front cover could be include a user input interface adapted to suit acertain category of users, such as children or elderly people. Such anactive cover can have only a few large buttons with custom images and/ortext, like “Nurse”, “Daughter”, “Taxi”, “Mum”, “Dad”, “Home”, “Work”etc. Preferably the logic contained in the software for the cover microcontroller is also devised to set up the terminal 1 in a special wayupon attachment. For instance, the cover software may be triggered bythe attachment of the active cover to the terminal to reject allincoming messages, only allow incoming calls from certain numbers, andso on.

In one embodiment the active cover may be adapted for playing games onthe terminal, having dedicated gaming buttons and an analog joystick.

An active cover may also include particular alarm functions forindicating incoming calls or messages, by illuminating the shell of thecover.

Some terminals include a calculator function. However, it is generallyquite simple, and in one embodiment an active cover may include a moreadvanced calculator with buttons for more complex operations, such aslogarithmic calculation and integration.

One embodiment of an active cover includes a Memory Stick reader, andcan thus provide an increased memory for the terminal.

The active cover may be a media player, such as an FM radio, or adigital music player capable of retrieving audio either from a carrieror from a software memory. Today such digitally stored audio systemsinclude the Mini Disc system and the MP3 format, but the future will ofcourse provide other alternatives.

In one embodiment the active cover is adapted to interact with a furthercomponent. For instance, an active cover may be devised to interact witha cordless headset through a suitable channel, such as by IR or radio,e.g. bluetooth. This way the terminal can easily be adapted to be ableto cooperate with such a cordless headset even though that feature wasnot included when the terminal was purchased. The headset could even bepackaged and sold together with the active cover. Such an active covermay also include a holder for the headset, and or a charger for theheadset, such that the headset may be charged by either a specialbattery or capacitor in the active cover, or by the battery of theterminal.

FIG. 12 illustrates an embodiment similar to that of FIGS. 2 to 4, in anelevated side view. The terminal core 1 as previously disclosed in FIG.6 is included, in which also the battery 12 and antenna 13 areillustrated. Furthermore, a front cover 30 and a back cover 20 is shown.In order to provide access to the system connector 51, a recess is madein the attachable covers. The attaching means 26, 27, 36 are not shownin this drawing, but are of course included in this embodiment too. Themay be devised such that the attaching means 26, 36 on the coverscooperate with each other, or such that the attaching means 26, 36 onthe covers cooperate with the attaching means 27 on the terminal.Furthermore, it should be noted that only one of the covers may bedetachable, e.g. the front cover 30, whereas the other cover member 20is firmly attached to the terminal core 1.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 12, the front cover 30 provides anauxiliary functional member 32, such as any of those previouslydiscussed. This functional member 32 is communicatively connected to theterminal connector 34 on the cover 30, as is indicated by thebi-directional arrows. The terminal connector 34 is illustrated withdashed lines to indicate that it is arranged on the inside of the cover30. Consequently, attachment of cover 30 to the terminal core 1 rendersa connection between the terminal connector 34 and the cover connector17. That connection may be electrical or inductive. As in FIGS. 5 and 6the microphone 14 and speaker 15 are left out.

In FIG. 13 the assembled terminal 40, comprising the terminal core 1 andthe attached covers 20 and 30, is shown. In the illustrated embodimentthe auxiliary functional member 32 is disposed over the display 18 andkeyboard 19, and constitutes in this example a touch-sensitive display32, for both input and output of data.

FIG. 14 shows the assembled terminal 40 of FIG. 13 in a sectional viewfrom one side. Some of the elements included in the terminal core 1 areshown, but for the purpose keeping the drawing as clear as possible,reference numerals have not been introduced. Reference is therefore madeto FIG. 12, regarding the included items. The attached covers 20 and 30provide a housing for the terminal 40, carrying the functional member32. The cover connector 17 and the terminal connector 34 arecommunicatively connected, such that either or both data signals andelectrical power is transferable.

FIGS. 15 to 17 illustrate in a schematic way a few different embodimentsof connectors for the cover to terminal connection, in a sectional viewof a cut-out portion of the assembled terminal 40.

FIG. 15 shows an embodiment including a pogo-pin solution for theterminal connector 34. Herein, the pogo-pin includes a socket 150, inwhich a piston 151 is resiliently supported. The piston is electricallyconnected to the functional member 32 of the cover 30. The piston 151 isbiased such that it can be displaced into the socket when pressedtowards the connection pad 17, while still exercising pressure towardsthe connection pad 17, thereby ensuring that a electrical contact ismaintained between the terminal connector 34 and the cover connector 17.In this embodiment the cover connector pad 17 is preferably a separatemetal member or a conductive layer on terminal core 1.

FIG. 16 illustrates a different embodiment, wherein a leaf spring typeconnector is employed. The cover connector 17 is devised as a platedsurface 17 on the edge of a PCB of the terminal core 1. A leaf spring160 is connected to the cover 20 or 30, and is electrically connected tothe functional member 22 or 32 of the cover 20, 30. In the same manneras for the example of the previous FIG. 15, the leaf spring 160 isbiased and maintains a pressure towards the connector pad 17 whenpressed towards it, thereby ensuring that a electrical contact ismaintained between the terminal connector 34 and the cover connector 17.

FIG. 17 illustrates an elastomer type connector 170, arranged on thecover 20, 30. The elastomer connector is conductive, and is held inelectrical contact with the connector pad 17 arranged on the terminalcore 1.

In all the illustrated examples of FIGS. 15 to 17 the cover connector 17is a simple connector pad, whereas the terminal connector 34 is a morecomplex device. It is emphasised, though, that the opposite arrangementalso could be employed, with a simple connector pad on the terminalconnector 24 or 34 of the cover 20 or 30, and the more complex devicedisposed on the cover connector 17 on the terminal core 1. As isillustrated in e.g. FIGS. 5 and 6, the cover connector 17 may bedisposed on the keyboard PCB 54.

The principles of the present invention have been described in theforegoing by examples of embodiments or modes of operations. However,the invention should not be construed as being limited to the particularembodiments discussed above. A skilled person would realise that theaccommodation of an active cover with full system bus connectivity tothe terminal gives rise to many further advantages or possibilities thanthose listed in the instant specification. By the disclosed invention,the integrated functions in the outer cover can be developed separatelyand added in a later stage of the product development. This way it isalso possible to extend the time the product is on the market, byupgrading it with new functions in the covers, and upgraded software inthe terminals. The above described embodiment should be regarded asillustrative rather than restrictive, and it should be appreciated thatvariations may be made in those embodiments by persons skilled in theart, without departing from the scope of the present invention asdefined by the appended claims.

1. A radio communication terminal, comprising; a user input and outputinterface; a terminal core including a main terminal PCB carryingelectronic circuits with data processing means for controlling terminalfunctions, and a system connector; a cover connector connected to thedata processing means; and a releasable cover carrying an auxiliaryfunctional member and a terminal connector connected to the auxiliaryfunctional member; wherein the cover connector and terminal connectorare configured to provide a communicative connection for the auxiliaryfunctional member of the cover to the data processing means of theterminal core, wherein the terminal core comprises an additionalkeyboard PCB supporting a terminal keyboard, connected to the electroniccircuits, and wherein the cover connector is disposed on the additionalPCB.
 2. The radio communication terminal as recited in claim 1, whereinone of the cover connector and terminal connector comprises conductiveconnection pads, and the other of the cover connector and terminalconnector connectors comprises a biased resilient connector element. 3.The radio communication terminal as recited in claim 2, wherein thebiased resilient connector element is a pogo-pin connector.
 4. The radiocommunication terminal as recited in claim 2, wherein the biasedresilient connector element is a leaf spring connector.
 5. The radiocommunication terminal as recited in claim 2, wherein the conductiveconnection pads are in the cover connector disposed on the terminalcore.
 6. The radio communication terminal as recited in claim 1, whereinthe cover comprises a shell member configured to cover a portion of afront face of the terminal core.
 7. The radio communication terminal asrecited in claim 1, wherein the cover comprises a shell memberconfigured to cover a portion of a rear face of the terminal core. 8.The radio communication terminal as recited in claim 1, wherein theterminal core and the cover are provided with cooperating attachingmeans for releasable attachment of the cover.
 9. A terminal core havinga user input and output interface, for use with a releasable covercarrying an auxiliary functional member and a terminal connectorconnected to the auxiliary functional member, the terminal corecomprising; a main terminal PCB carrying electronic circuits with dataprocessing means for controlling terminal functions, and a systemconnector; and a cover connector connected to the data processing means;wherein the cover connector and terminal connector are configured toprovide a communicative connection for the auxiliary functional memberof an attached cover to the data processing means of the terminal core,wherein the terminal core comprises an additional keyboard PCBsupporting a terminal keyboard, connected to the electronic circuits,and wherein the cover connector is disposed on the additional PCB. 10.The radio communication terminal as recited in claim 9, wherein thecover connector comprises conductive connection pads.